Editor’s Note: The following local reports represent the Top Stories of 2013. For more details and photographs, go to the Taunton Daily Gazette’s website, www.tauntongazette.com.

1) State approves new tribal casino compact

In November, the Massachusetts Senate approved a new compact that would define the terms of operation of a proposed tribal casino in Taunton.

The Mashpee Wampanoag tribe hopes to build a $500 million resort casino near the interchange of routes 24 and 140 in Taunton (backed by Malaysian casino conglomerate Genting). Tribal Chairmen Cedric Cromwell said the new compact brings the proposed casino “one step closer to fruition.”

The biggest obstacle remaining is the need for sovereign land. The Mashpees hope to get federal approval for an application for “land-in-trust,” to make their proposed Taunton location their own sovereign property. But casino critics have said that a 2009 Supreme Court ruling may prevent this from happening.

The ruling implies that tribes that were not under federal jurisdiction prior to the 1934 Indian Reorganization Act are ineligible to have land taken in trust. The Mashpee, who weren’t federally recognized until 2007, say they have been under federal jurisdiction for centuries, even if the U.S. government didn’t acknowledge it at the time.

If the proposed tribal casino were the only casino in Massachusetts, the tribe would pay the state 21 percent of its gambling revenue. If another casino opens elsewhere in the state, the tribe would pay 17 percent. The amount would decrease by 2 percentage points if the state authorizes slot machines at Raynham Park.

2) More than 86 percent of Raynham of voters back Raynham Park slot parlor

Raynham voters overwhelmingly endorsed a slot parlor casino in a townwide referendum during the summer, as the Raynham Park development group seeks the state’s sole slot license.

By a margin of 1,822 to 290, voters approved the community host agreement reached by slot license applicant Raynham Park LLC and town officials. With 21.5 percent voter turnout, 86.1 percent of voters approved the proposal.

Under the agreement, Raynham Park LLC, including operating partner Greenwood Racing (based in Pennsylvania, where it has Parx Casino in Bensalem) and Raynham Park dog track owner George Carney, will contribute more than $1 million in annual impact mitigation funds to the town, which will in turn allow the developers to operate a 1,250-machine slot parlor if they are awarded the state sole slot license.

The Massachusetts Gaming Commission is expected to give the slot license to one of three applicants in early 2014.

Remy, 35, the son of Red Sox broadcaster Jerry Remy, was arrested on Aug. 15 and charged with stabbing Martel, 27, a Taunton High School graduate, several times at their Stearns Hill Road home in Waltham. A judge ordered Remy held without bail.

A Middlesex Grand Jury indicted Remy on Sept. 24 on charges of murder, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, assault with a dangerous weapon, assault and battery, and violating a restraining order.

The day before the murder, Remy was arrested on domestic abuse charges. An independent review into the case found that the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office could have pursued information about

Remy more aggressively in the days before the murder.

Remy’s criminal case will continue well into 2014, and most likely beyond.

4) Taunton resident captures bombing suspect on film

During the aftermath of the tragic Boston Marathon bombings on April 15, an amateur photographer from Taunton provided the FBI with several clear, high-quality images showing suspects Tamarlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev in the crowd that day.

Hobby photographer Bob Leonard said after seeing video footage in the news, he uploaded his marathon photos and reviewed them, finding more identifiable images of the Tsarnaevs. Leonard said he immediately sent them to authorities, and the images were later disseminated to the public.

Leonard, who often shoots photos of youth sports and community events, said he often goes to the Marathon to take pictures. Leonard said he kept taking the photos after the bombs exploded. His photographs show the Tsarnaevs in the crowd near Whiskey’s and the Back Bay Social Club.

“I had some great facial clarity on both of them,” he said. “Sometimes they’re looking right at me and probably worrying, ‘he’s got his camera going crazy.’”

5) Train track murder: Body discovered near tracks

The fatal shooting of a 24-year-old city man, whose body was left on a set of railroad tracks Nov. 25, was Taunton’s first homicide of 2013, and so far the first murder in the city since 2010, according to law enforcement authorities.

The victim was identified as 24-year-old Edwin Rivera Jr. of Cohannet Street.

A 21-year-old Taunton man with a lengthy rap sheet was arraigned two days later, but has not been charged with murder. Flavio Daveiga, of 15 Newcomb Place, was ordered held on a total of $2 million bail by Taunton District Court Justice Gregory Phillips — $1 million each for single charges of accessory before the fact of murder and witness intimidation.

Bristol Assistant District Attorney Stephen Nadeau said the homicide was a direct result of a drug debt Rivera owed to Daveiga.

6) 100th Lights On: Human Christmas tree world record set

Taunton marked the 100th anniversary of the Lighting of the Green, an annual downtown holiday celebration that has earned the community its nickname, “The Christmas City.”

Organizers estimated that more than 10,000 guests came out to the Taunton Green for the centennial event, which was held on Dec. 7.

The Taunton Green remains decorated with the holiday display, which features several mainstays including a large Santa statue at the center, on a cake to celebrate the anniversary, along with the traditional illuminated banner overhead that reads, “THE CHRISTMAS CITY.” In addition to the lighting of the display, nearly 40 venues around the Green participated by hosting holiday-themed entertainment.

An ad hoc group of Christmas enthusiasts also organized a record-breaking display downtown to mark the anniversary. Spearheaded by Mary Morgado, 1,000 people formed the largest walking human Christmas tree, by standing in formation with colored ponchos, breaking the previous Guinness World record of 852.

Tigan Hollingsworth was stabbed to death near Grampy’s convenience store at High and Weir streets at around 11:45 p.m. the night of June 25, 2010. The pursuit of justice in his case continues.

The second of three defendants in his stabbing death was convicted Thursday, Dec. 19, of first-degree murder by a Fall River jury. Jean Carlos “JC” Lopez was sentenced to life in state prison without chance of parole. Lopez was convicted despite the death of a key prosecution witness, who was shot by police in Pennsylvania days before the trial began.

Erving “Burd” Cruz is also serving 15 years to life after his conviction earlier this year of second-degree murder for his alleged role in the killing. Despite the convictions, the search for coconspirators continues. More trials and inevitable appeals from those serving time will be the topics of stories in 2014.

8) Two killed in crash at Taunton Municipal Airport

Roland “Rolly” Deslauriers, 61, of Bridgewater, was killed when a 1946 Aeronca 7AC crashed on takeoff at Taunton Municipal Airport on Aug. 25. His friend John Schmouth, 69, of Brockton, also died in the crash. According to pilots at the airport, Schmouth owned the plane and had just recently returned to flying.

Luke Schiada, senior air safety investigator with the National Transportation Safety Board’s office of aviation safety, said the investigation into the crash has revealed a still-engaged gust lock on the aircraft’s rudder may be at least partially to blame.

A federal investigation into the crash continues.

9) Taunton Police Officer Troy Medeiros dies of cancer

The streets leading to St. Mary’s Parish Church on Broadway were eerily quiet for a Wednesday morning on June 5, as traffic was diverted to accommodate more than 1,000 mourners paying tribute to veteran Taunton Police Officer Troy Medeiros.

Medeiros died of lung cancer at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston after seven months of treatments for the disease. He was 50.

Medeiros, who also served for years on the Zoning Board of Appeals, was remembered as a gritty, no-nonsense cop who wasn’t afraid to speak his mind, even if it meant ruffling some feathers in the process.

10) Dighton man sues town after gun seizure

A 19-year-old Dighton resident named Matthew Plouffe sued his town and its police chief over an alleged Second Amendment rights violation, with a case filed in U.S. federal court in September.

Plouffe claimed that the Dighton Police unjustly seized his two shotguns, a black powder rifle and ammunition a day after he was pulled over following a verbal altercation involving a Plouffe’s younger companion and passenger. A Second Amendment lawyer said Plouffe’s FID card was suspended unlawfully “essentially” because of his choice of friends.

In December, it was reported that Plouffe dropped the case. Dighton Police Chief Robert MacDonald said Plouffe had a separate legal issue that influenced him to drop the case. MacDonald said the police took away Plouffe’s guns because they feared a violent altercation involving Plouffe’s 13-year-old friend and another group of 13-year-olds.

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